Fans To Vote For Winners On NFL.com

Quarterbacks CARSON PALMER of the Cincinnati Bengals, PHILIP RIVERS of the San Diego Chargers and TONY ROMO of the Dallas Cowboys are the finalists for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on October 25 – 26, while running backs CEDRIC BENSON of the Cincinnati Bengals, RYAN GRANT of the Green Bay Packers and SHONN GREENE of the New York Jets are the finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com/FedEx from 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday through noon EST on Friday to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Friday evening on NFL.com.

Fans will be voting for more than their favorite player. As part of the Air & Ground program, FedEx continues its support of Safe Kids USA – a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children – by making weekly $1,000 donations in the winning players’ names. The funding, allocated to local Safe Kids coalitions in that team’s city, is used for pedestrian safety improvements throughout the year, from upgraded crosswalks and street signage to traffic barriers and educational training.

For a second season, fans can tune into the “FedEx Air & Ground Lowdown” posted exclusively on NFL.com/FedEx starting Wednesday mornings. The show examines the nominees in the Air & Ground categories through exclusive video highlights and expert analysis. NFL Network’s RICH EISEN and MARSHALL FAULK host the weekly five-minute show.

• San Diego’s PHILIP RIVERS completed 18 of 30 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the Chargers’ 37 – 7 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

• Dallas’ TONY ROMO completed 21 of 29 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 37 – 21 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

A closer look at the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week finalists:

• Cincinnati’s CEDRIC BENSON rushed 37 times for 189 yards and one touchdown in the Bengals’ 45 – 10 win over the Chicago Bears.

• Green Bay’s RYAN GRANT rushed for 148 yards and one touchdown, carrying the ball 27 times in the Packers’ 31 – 3 win over the Cleveland Browns.

• New York Jets’ SHONN GREENE rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the Jets’ 38 – 0 win over the Oakland Raiders.

As the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, FedEx understands the need for a winning game plan, and created the Air & Ground program to highlight superior on-field performance while delivering safe kids off the field. Because FedEx has thousands of delivery trucks out on the roads each day, the company is committed to funding pedestrian safety improvements through its 10-year partnership with Safe Kids USA.

http://lonestarstruck.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/posts2.png180397Kelly Irvinhttp://lonestarstruck.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/lonestarstruck.pngKelly Irvin2009-10-28 13:55:172009-10-28 13:55:17Vote Romo Player of the Week on NFL.COM

The Bucs are hoping Byron Leftwich is the answer for QB after they released Garcia. They signed him to a two year deal as reported by nfl.com.

Leftwich, heading into his seventh NFL season, was a backup for Ben Roethlisberger with the Steelers last year and threw for two touchdowns and a 104.3 rating in a limited role. He’ll get $7.5 million over two years for the Bucs, who also re-signed one of their reserve quarterbacks, Luke McCown, to a three-year deal earlier this year.

Leftwich spent four seasons as the starter in Jacksonville, which selected him in the first round (seventh overall) in the 2003 draft out of Marshall. He was the second quarterback drafted in 2003 behind Carson Palmer by Cincinnati.

He became Jacksonville’s starter, replacing Mark Brunell, after four games when Brunell hurt his elbow. Leftwich threw for 2,819 yards, 14 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and the team went 5-11.

But the Jaguars improved to 9-7 the next year and 12-4 in 2005, making the playoffs for the first time in six years. Leftwich missed the final five games that season with a broken ankle.

He was cut by the Jaguars in favor of David Garrard in 2007 and joined the Falcons, but was not re-signed by Atlanta after making two starts, and headed to the Steelers last August after backup quarterback Charlie Batch was lost for the season.

Tampa Bay did not re-sign last year’s starter, Jeff Garcia, who now is with Oakland, but has veteran Brian Griese, second-year QB Josh Johnson, plus McCown and now Leftwich on its roster.

As the new season arrives each year, we as fans are inundated with previews and predictions from every and any sports magazine that is imaginable. When I was younger I would be waiting for them like I would wait for Santa Claus on Christmas. These days, with the internet and ESPNEWS and the overall coverage of pro football, I am usually nauseated by this experts predictions and that pundits crystal ball halfway through training camp. At the end of the day, who picked the Giants to win the Super Bowl last year? Not many, if anyone. That being said, there is one preview that I look forward to reading and that is Sports Illustrated’s NFL PREVIEW. For those of you in the same boat, be warned: do not read this if you want to read about it in the magazine for yourself. This year’s issue, with Tony Romo on the cover, does not seem to find the Cowboys in as favorable as light as some of us fans might expect.

For starters, let’s look at The King 50. This is the top 50 players regardless of position ranked by veteran SI writer Peter King. The Cowboys ranked 4 players among the top 50. The top ranked Cowboy is DeMarcus Ware (#15), ranked one spot ahead of Shawn Merriman, who was drafted by the Chargers ahead of Ware. D-Ware is the top ranked Linebacker and 4th highest ranked defensive player overall. This seems very accurate and fair, but then it get’s ugly for the Cowboys. Next for the Cowboys is Romo (#19), but he is the sixth ranked Quarterback behind Tom Brady (#1), Peyton Manning (#2), Drew Brees (#6), Carson Palmer (#7) and Ben Roethlisberger (#18). To me, this is a joke. I think Romo should be ranked higher overall, as well as ahead of Brees, Palmer and Big Ben. I would put him somewhere at #10, as the third ranked QB. Then you have to go all the way towards the bottom of the list to find the final 2 Cowboys. Jason Witten (#41) is ranked behind players such as Aaron Kampman (#32), Phillip Rivers (#31) and tight end Antonio Gates (#35). That is a joke. But you want funny? Just look at the hate that Terrell Owens is getting! T.O. (#43) is ranked behind receivers Randy Moss (#4), Larry Fitzgerald (#33), Reggie Wayne (#36), Braylon Edwards (#39) and yes, get this…..Wes Welker (#40)! We all know T.O. though, fuel to his fire. He probably already has the list posted in his locker!

Then we get to the magazine’s predictions. Following a 13-3 season and a division title as well as all of our starters returning, you would think it would be an easy selection to pick the Cowboys to defend the division crown, but instead SI has us finishing 10-6, and second to….the EAGLES! I about threw the magazine away at this point. And to add insult to injury they forecast us losing to the Eagles in the 2nd round of the playoffs, as Philadelphia advances to the NFC Championship and then to the Superbowl, where they are predicted to lose to the Patriots.

There is also a feature story about the Cowboys offensive line and the meltdown in the the 4th quarter of the playoff loss to the giants, as well as the team preview which includes a small story, with absoloutely no breaking news, about Pac Man.

One small highlight is Felix Jones ranked as the #3 player with breakout potential and says he enters the NFL as “one of the best cutback runners in the game.”

So, overall, it is not a very good read for Cowboys fans, but at least something to get fired up about. The preseason is over, and now it is time to go defend our division title and get that playoff win that we have been searching for, and when we do, I am going to be reading a new Sports Illustrated talking about how great we are, and that is when we will get the last laugh!